The status codes now reflect the potential for threat to life rather than purely how abnormal the patient’s vital signs and physiology are. The new approach requires ambulance officers to make an assessment of the patient’s problem or injuries, combine this with their vital signs and then allocate a status code based on threat to life. This gives them more leeway for common sense than the previous purely physiology based approach.

Status one patients have an immediate threat to life. Examples would include any of the following – obstructed airway or airway needing intervention to prevent obstruction, severe stridor, severe respiratory distress, shock unresponsive to fluid loading, multi system trauma with very abnormal vital signs, post cardiac arrest with coma, cardiogenic shock, coma with GCS less than or equal to nine.

Status two patients have a potential threat to life. Examples would include any of the following – moderate stridor, moderate respiratory distress, shock responsive to fluid loading, anyone meeting our pre-hospital definition of major trauma but with normal or near normal vital signs, post cardiac arrest but awake, cardiac chest pain unrelieved by nitrates and oxygen alone, abnormal GCS but greater than nine.

Status three patients have a condition that is unlikely to be a threat to life. Examples would include any of the following – mild stridor, mild respiratory distress, isolated SVT with no other symptoms, cardiac chest pain relieved by nitrates and oxygen alone, isolated femur fracture.

Status four patients have a minor condition that is no threat to life.

In overall terms there is not much difference in the status assigned to patients compared with previously. The only significant change is that patients with cardiac chest pain unrelieved by nitrates and oxygen alone will be status two when in the past they often were called status three.

Ambulance codes

Response codes

priority 1 is generally Lights/Siren
priority 2 generally no lights/no siren
priority 3 routine transports/outpatients
normally a driver will stick to this guideline
but ultimately it is the drivers call at which priority he responds too